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Independent development of wave and particle aspects of light

Eduardo V. Flores, Michael Lim, Jeffrey Scaturro

Published Dec 2, 2014• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Light displays particle and wave properties within the bounds of the complementarity inequality. Using two laser beams that cross and then diverge from each other we explore the inequality. Results, based on semiclassical analysis, are in conflict with the inequality. However, analysis based on quantum electrodynamics resolves the conflict and uncovers a region where particle and wave aspects of light develop independently. Independent development of wave and particle aspects implies that they represent separate realities

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Light displays particle and wave properties within the bounds of the complementarity inequality. Using two laser beams that cross and then diverge from each other we explore the inequality. Results, based on semiclassical analysis, are in conflict with the inequality. However, analysis based on quantum electrodynamics resolves the conflict and uncovers a region where particle and wave aspects of light develop independently. Independent development of wave and particle aspects implies that they represent separate realities
The wave-particle duality of light has been hanging over the clouds of science as an insuperable mystery. Debates have gone on for centuries as to which of the two aspects of light best represents the natural property of light. On the one hand, the particle theory of light camp made its own submissions a long time ago with many experimental demonstrations to confirm its position. On the other hand, the wave theory of light camp did organize or face some experiments to corroborate its own position. But then, a middle ground interpretation was shoveled-in by Niels Bohr during the second decade of the 20th Century. For him, the two aspects of light are complementary and Louis de Broglie popularized it, despite the halting beginnings of the complementarity Thesis. A double-slit experiment was, however, organized to show that light has these dual aspects. The central thesis of this paper is that though light exhibits these dual aspects, it is fundamentally a wave. The paper adopts the historiographical approach in navigating this lingering issue of the nature of light in the history of science.
The mathematics of quantum theory is based on operators rather than numbers. In optics this simple fact allows statistical quantities, such as the fluctuations in the electric field of a light beam, to be smaller than is allowed by classical physics. Experiments that measure these quantities can generally be divided into two types, depending on whether they measure the wave or the particle properties of light. This is in line with the "complementarity principle" of quantum mechanics, which states that the wave and particle aspects of a system cannot be observed at the same time.
The wave-particle duality of light plays a fundamental role in introductory courses on quantum mechanics. Traditionally the wave and particle aspects of light are demonstrated in separate experiments which makes it difficult for students to understand their complementary nature. We present an experiment using a single apparatus that demonstrates the wave aspect, the particle aspect, and most importantly, their coexistence. The apparatus is based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer in which a light beam is attenuated so that at each instant there is only a single photon in the interferometer. In this way the observation of single photon interference becomes possible. By integrating the single photon events in a storage oscilloscope the evolution toward classical interference fringes can be shown in real time. A second strong laser beam, derived from the same pointer, but slightly displaced, traverses the interferometer at the same time, allowing the simultaneous demonstration of wave aspects. Special features of the setup are low cost, simplicity, didactical power and suitability for presentations in large lecture halls using both multimedia projections and audible signals.
Two-slit experiments performed earlier by Tsuchiya et al. and recently by Afshar et al. demonstrate the joint wave-particle properties of the single indiviual photon, and agree with Einstein’s argument against Complementarity. These results cannot be ex-plained by conventional theory in which Maxwell’s equations serve as a guiding line and basis. On the other hand a revised quantum electrodynamic theory based on a nonzero electric field divergence in the vacuum yields results which appear to be consistent with the experiments. A model of the individual photon is thus deduced from the theory, in the form of a wave packet behaving as a single entity and having simultaneous wave and particle properties. 1
How can we construct a picture of the photon from the wealth of observation material available to us? The photon appears to have a split personality: it is neither a wave nor a particle but something else which, depending on the experimental situation, exhibits a wave- or a particle-like behavior. In other words, in the photon (as in material particles such as the electron) the particle–wave dualism becomes manifest. Whereas classically the wave and the particle pictures are separate, quantum mechanics accomplishes a formal synthesis through a unified mathematical treatment. Let us look first at the wave aspect familiar from classical electrodynamics, which seems to be the most natural description. It makes all the different interference phenomena understandable, such as the “interference of the photon with itself” on the one hand and the appearance of spatial and temporal intensity correlations in a thermal radiation field on the other (which are obviously brought about by superposition of elementary waves emitted independently from different atoms). It might come as a surprise (at least for those having quantum mechanical preconceptions) that the classical theory is valid down to arbitrarily small intensities: the visibility of the interference pattern does not deteriorate even for very small intensities – the zero point fluctuations of the electromagnetic field advocated by quantum mechanics do not have a disturbing effect – and is valid not only for conventional interference experiments but also for interference between independently generated light beams (in the form of laser light).